


The Fandom Garden

by yourlibrarian



Category: Fandom - Fandom
Genre: Gen, Meta, Nonfiction, Writing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2020-03-22
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:40:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23265586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yourlibrarian/pseuds/yourlibrarian
Summary: Responding to theMarch Meta Matters Challengeprompt, "When you write meta, what is it you're hoping to have happen?"
Kudos: 7
Collections: March Meta Matters Challenge





	The Fandom Garden

When I write meta, I'm sometimes thinking of a formal essay, and sometimes one just develops as I'm writing. So I think that my expectations differ, depending on the meta. For example, I've written a fair number of episode reviews and these are definitely something I wouldn't bother with if I didn't know _someone_ would be reading them. I think they're very geared towards engaging in conversation with others in the fandom as much as engaging with canon. Similarly, I often hope others will either write their own meta in response to mine or in response to what I was discussing. I know I have definitely written a good bit of meta as a response to someone else's posts.

Of course, as I saw a fanfiction writer say the other day, it can also be a matter of anger! There have definitely been times when I feel ill used by the creatives and don't appreciate not being given a good effort. At other times, it's just the opposite. Not only do I want to make note of what things I think were done well, but I want to memorialize my time spent watching a show when it ends. I have written a few meta pieces about the end of shows, where I can finally see the thing as a whole.

I know that a few times in the past someone has been inspired by something I wrote to create a story in response to it. I don't think anyone has yet done an artwork, but I did once have a vid done with an idea I threw out there and that was very cool! I have also been very inspired by particular fanworks to get thinky about them, particularly fan vids. But I've also written about general bodies of work in particular fandoms when I realized I was seeing patterns.

In some cases, it's just been a matter of writing something out in a way where I can recall what I thought about something, or where I am trying to make connections that are clamoring for attention in my head. I'm particularly glad about the former. Over the past week or so I have been posting long ago concert reviews and album reviews. I'm fairly sure no one will find them as interesting to read as I did. I mean, the concert reviews were actual experiences so there's that. But the music reviews surprised me. I know why I began writing them, which is that if one is in a music fandom the inevitable question is what is one's "favorite album or favorite songs?" And I had answers, though these changed as new work came along. But I kind of wanted to know _why_ I thought so. 

I think there are definitely meta pieces that address the desire to know "why." There are the ever popular "why I like slash" or whatever trope one reads a lot. There are ship manifestos, character manifestos, and think pieces about things that go on in fandom, things that have gone on in a particular fandom, and things we've heard from creatives or people outside fandom. These often explore why one likes a thing, why one is involved with something, what has one's experience been like, etc. 

Especially if one does not do creative fanwork, I think that writing out these whys and whats can also serve as a mark of one having "been here." One was a part of something, and something was part of us. We were in a place; there were thoughts and revelations and curiosity and a sense of satisfaction in teasing it all out. 

Right now, I have an unfinished meta series. My music reviews ended three albums too soon, for various good reasons. There were dramatic changes in my life, an upheaval that took a while to recover from. And by the time I did I had already started to slide into a new fandom. I bought further albums but was disconnected from that part of my life. It was a third act for the fandom yet I had slipped away just before the curtain rose again.

I'm considering writing an ending (though it may always remain unfinished since further albums are always possible). Part of why I'll try is a desire for completion, and partly that I know a few people want to read it. Part of me also wants to see if I can rediscover the insight I saw as I read over the earlier sections. I'm not sure I can brain in the same way anymore, and I'm a little anxious about finding that out. I also want to see if making that effort means I can recapture the sense of that fandom after many years away. 

And maybe part of what's behind all the meta is wanting to give meaning to things one spends time on, has forged friendships in tandem with, and which -- for us lifelong fans -- divides our lives into eras. It's planting a bit of our thoughts in the fandom garden.


End file.
